Nervous system
hideThe nervous system is a network of specialized cells that communicate information about an organism's surroundings and itself. It processes this information and causes reactions in other parts of the body. It is composed of neurons and other specialized cells called glial cells,(plural form glia), that aid in the function of the neurons. The nervous system is divided broadly into two categories: the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. Neurons generate and conduct impulses between and within the two systems. The peripheral nervous system is composed of sensory neurons and the neurons that connect them to the nerve cord, spinal cord and brain, which make up the central nervous system. In response to stimuli, sensory neurons generate and propagate signals to the central nervous system which then processes and conducts signals back to the muscles and glands. The neurons of the nervous systems of animals are interconnected in complex arrangements and use electrochemical signals and neurotransmitters to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next. The interaction of the different neurons form neural circuits regulate an organism's perception of the world and what is going on with its body, thus regulating its behavior. Nervous systems are found in many multicellular animals but differ greatly in complexity between species.
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News tagged with nervous system
Multiple sclerosis successfully reversed in animals
Aug 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) completely reverses the devastating autoimmune disorder in mice, and might work exactly the same way in humans, say researchers at ...
Understanding the nervous system by walking in a neuron's shoes
Oct 21, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- If you want to understand and predict the behavior of your young daughter, explains neurobiologist Christopher Fiorillo, you might observe how she reacts to various environmental factors. ...
Why Do We Have Fingerprints?
Apr 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Unlike most wrinkles on our bodies, which appear due to bending and stretching of the skin, fingerprints aren't the result of repeated motion. Each of us is born with a unique set of them, ...
Popular insect repellent deet affects nervous system: study
Aug 05, 2009 |
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The active ingredient in many insect repellents, deet, has been found to be toxic to the central nervous system. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology say that more investigations are urgently needed ...
Why the thumb of the right hand is on the left hand side
May 22, 2009 |
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It is the concentration of a few signaling molecules that determines the fate of individual cells during the early development of organisms. In the renowned journal Current Biology, a team of molecular biologists led by Pia ...
Move over, sponges: New evidence confirms Placozoans are the closest living surrogate to the ancestor of all animals
Biology /
Jan 27, 2009 |
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A new and comprehensive analysis confirms that the evolutionary relationships among animals are not as simple as previously thought. The traditional idea that animal evolution has followed a trajectory from ...
Master regulator found for regenerating nerve fibers in live animals
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 25, 2009 |
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Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report that an enzyme known as Mst3b, previously identified in their lab, is essential for regenerating damaged axons (nerve fibers) in a live animal model, in both the peripheral ...
A step toward better brain implants using conducting polymer nanotubes
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Sep 29, 2009 |
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ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Brain implants that can more clearly record signals from surrounding neurons in rats have been created at the University of Michigan. The findings could eventually lead to more effective ...
Scientists ID gene key to Alzheimer's-like reversal
May 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory has now pinpointed the exact gene responsible for a 2007 breakthrough in which mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease regained ...
Neuroscientists isolate gene essential to early brain development
Nov 27, 2008 |
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University of Queensland neuroscientists have discovered the crucial role a specific gene plays in forming the neural tube, the earliest identifiable structure in the developing brain and an essential precursor to the entire ...
Researchers identify a protein critical for memory, learning
Biology /
Feb 24, 2009 |
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Researchers from the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) have made a breakthrough discovery that may eventually change the way physicians approach treatment of learning and memory defects ...
Alzheimer's discovery could bring early diagnosis, treatment closer
May 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A discovery made by researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Research Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital offers new hope for the early diagnosis and ...
One small step for neurons, one giant leap for nerve cell repair
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 07, 2009 |
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The repair of damaged nerve cells is a major problem in medicine today. A new study by researchers at the Montreal NeurologicaI Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) and McGill University, is a significant advance towards a ...
Team finds genetic link between immune and nerve systems
Sep 19, 2008 |
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DURHAM, N.C. —Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered genetic links between the nervous system and the immune system in a well-studied worm, and the findings could illuminate new approaches to human therapies.
Proteins by design: Biochemists create new protein from scratch
Mar 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- No doubt proteins are complex. Most are "large" and full of interdependent branches, pockets and bends in their final folded structure. This complexity frustrates biochemists and protein engineers ...
